SOURCE: LECG

November 18, 2008 17:01 ET

Former President of Brazil's Competition Authority Joins LECG's Global Competition Policy Practice

Dr. Elizabeth Farina, the Former President of CADE and Currently Professor of Economics at the University of Sao Paolo, Will Join LECG's Global Competition Policy Practice; Dr. Farina Is the Fifth Antitrust Economist and Former Competition Authority Official to Join LECG in the Last 6 Months as the Firm Expands Its Competition Policy Practice in the United States, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific Region

EMERYVILLE, CA--(Marketwire - November 18, 2008) - Global expert services firm LECG (NASDAQ: XPRT) announced today that Dr. Elizabeth Farina, the former president of CADE, the Brazilian competition authority, has joined LECG as a managing director. During her tenure, the Brazilian competition authority was widely recognized as one of the world's leading antitrust agencies. She left CADE in July, when her term expired, to return to her position as a professor at the University of Sao Paulo. Professor Farina is one of the leading antitrust specialists in the world and a frequent speaker and participant at competition policy conferences around the world.

"Professor Farina's extensive agency experience, particularly in relation to regulatory issues, economic analysis, and policy, makes her an invaluable addition to LECG's team of experts," said Dr. Michael Salinger, managing director at LECG and former director of the Bureau of Economics at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. He added, "She brings tremendous value to our growing list of global clients."

In addition to Professor Farina, four other economists with extensive competition authority experience have joined LECG's burgeoning global competition policy practice in Latin America, China, and the United States.

--  Dr. Elisa Mariscal, who was previously the economic and strategic
    advisor to the chairman of Mexico's Federal Competition Commission, has
    joined LECG's Mexico City office. With a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA, she
    has been an official of the Mexican authority for the past five years and
    has extensive experience handling complex competition policy matters. She
    joins seven LECG global competition colleagues who are based or work
    extensively in Latin America.
    
--  Dr. Pedro Pereira, an official of the Portuguese competition
    authority, has also joined LECG. Dr. Pereira, who has a Ph.D. from the
    University of San Diego, has published many significant papers in
    competition policy economics. He will be based in Washington, D.C. where he
    will work on multi-jurisdictional competition matters.
    
--  Professor Xinzhu Zhang, who is with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in
    Beijing, is leading LECG's competition policy work in China. In addition to
    serving as an advisor to the World Bank, he was deeply involved in the
    drafting process for China's recently adopted anti-monopoly law (AML), and
    has assisted China's State Council on its implementation. Professor Zhang
    has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Toulouse.
    
--  Professor Joshua Wright, who teaches at the law schools at George
    Mason and University of Texas at Austin, has also joined LECG. Professor
    Wright has a Ph.D. in economics and a J.D. from UCLA. He is a specialist on
    the economics of bundled pricing and recently served as Scholar in
    Residence at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition.
    

Drs. Farina, Mariscal, Pereira, Wright, and Zhang join LECG's team of 64 economists that work on competition policy matters in the Asia Pacific Region, the European Community, Latin America, and the United States. The global competition policy group has worked on numerous high profile multi-jurisdictional and national mergers and antitrust investigations in a diverse set of industries.

Michael Jeffery, LECG chief executive officer, added, "The recent hiring of this illustrious team of world-class economists reflects LECG's commitment to serving multi-national clients who increasingly have single matters before several of the more than 100 competition authorities worldwide."

Dr. David S. Evans, the head of LECG's global competition policy practice, observed, "In the last decade, most countries have created competition authorities as part of their commitment to relying on market forces rather than centralized planning for economic development. Multi-national companies increasingly need a global team of economists to explain their practices and merger requests, and conduct and present studies simultaneously to multiple competition authorities around the world." According to Dr. Evans, "We are honored to have Elisa, Elizabeth, Josh, Pedro, and Xinzhu join us. Like others in our global practice, they have a deep commitment to serious and independent economic analysis, strong professional credentials, and practical experience in handling cases before competition authorities."

About LECG

LECG, a global expert services and consulting firm, with more than 800 experts and professionals in 33 offices around the world, provides independent expert testimony, original authoritative studies, strategic advisory, and financial advisory services to clients including Fortune Global 500 corporations, major law firms, and local, state, and federal governments and agencies worldwide. LECG's highly credentialed experts and professional staff conduct economic and financial analyses to provide objective opinions and advice regarding complex disputes and inform legislative, judicial, regulatory, and business decision makers. LECG's experts are renowned academics, former senior government officials, experienced industry leaders, and seasoned consultants. (NASDAQ: XPRT).